


Fox Wedding

by Kiyana



Series: Crosses and Foxes [4]
Category: Faith (Airdorf Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Fluff, Garcia is still a yako btw, Gen, Ignore them please, Mythological Inaccuracies, There are two named background characters, They are only there for plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23581582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiyana/pseuds/Kiyana
Summary: Garcia chuckled as John continued to jokingly whine at the kits, obviously enjoying himself and looking genuinely happy. A far cry from when he and John first met, months back. His red eyes dulled slightly as the memory of that occasion came flooding back to him.They officially met at a Fox Wedding.
Relationships: John Thomas Ward/Father Garcia
Series: Crosses and Foxes [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665841
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Fox Wedding

Garcia watched quietly from the steeple as John played with some of the fox kits from around the forest, the kits making sure to keep him and themselves off of his bandaged ankle. He smiled softly as the little foxes leapt on John, their excited squeaks reaching him even from his high up perch. He'd moved the pews that were in front of the door leading up here, finding that he preferred being able to watch his territory now that he was a yako.

 _"Come on, mister John!"_ one of the little kits exclaimed, bouncing around the two tailed gray fox excitedly. _"You're so slow!"_

 _"My ankle hurts, Kali, you know that!"_ John laughed in response. _"You gotta give me some leeway, here!"_

Garcia chuckled as John continued to jokingly whine at the kits, obviously enjoying himself and looking genuinely happy. A far cry from when he and John first met, months back. His red eyes dulled slightly as the memory of that occasion came flooding back to him.

They officially met at a Fox Wedding.

Garcia had spotted him out of the corner of his eye, far into their journey through the woods within the wedding procession. His kitsunebi was small, almost underdeveloped for a two tails like him, and while he continued with the rest with even strides, his posture was particularly tense and his hands were firmly latched onto his arms. Looking back on it now, Garcia realized that he’d likely had that self-comforting reaction for a lot longer than he thought he did. He frowned a little as he glanced around at the other foxes in the procession, their faces blurred in his disinterest in them, disliking that not a single one of them were giving the young fox a second look.

What happened to guiding the young?

With a flick of the tail, his own kitsunebi flickered slightly as he started slowly making his way towards him. He recognized that fox, having seen him mere months before. It was in June, maybe? He’d been roaming the woods in rural Connecticut, his mind preoccupied by his own problems, when he’d felt a sort of familiarity wash over him. Like a gentle breeze, carrying with it the scent of candle wax, fabric, and the metallic pang of blood. It’d been enough to distract him from his own duties, his curiosity getting the better of him as he quickly made his way towards the scent. He came to the main road after a bit, catching sight of a grey car parked on the side near a path, the engine still letting off quiet clicks as it cooled down. He looked down the road, back and forth, then darted across when he made sure it was clear. He took a second to peer into the car, his ear flicking at how empty and barren the interior was. The scent here was strong, incredibly so. He turned away from the car and sniffed the air a little, his tails floofing up slightly as a second smell, one he recognized quite well, began to grow stronger. He hurried into the woods, alongside the trail as he followed the scents.

He first set his gaze upon that younger kitsune, his prior duties completely forgotten as he watched him peer around, quite obviously looking for something. He followed the younger fox around, eventually watching as he entered an old home, practically falling apart at the foundation, the scent of other creatures all but swallowing up the two tails’ own. He’d felt no small amount of concern for the other kitsune, but when that second scent grew ever stronger, he’d hesitantly pulled himself away from the old building, only praying that whatever he had to do in there went smoothly, and that he came out okay.

It would seem his prayer had been heard, thank Inari.

“Hello there.” Garcia said softly as he came to a stop beside the younger fox, causing him to jump a little in fright. “Sorry if I startled you.”

“N-no,” the younger fox began to respond. “It’s fine, I should have been paying attention.” there was a tense silence. “Why did you start talking to me, anyway?”

“You seemed tense.” one of Garcia’s tails twitched. “And alone. Is this your first procession? Where’s your clan?”

“This is indeed my first procession.” he responded, sounding a little confused by the line of questioning. “And I don’t have a clan.”

"What?" Garcia's ears stood straight up in alarm. "But-"

"I left my birth clan for my own reasons." he quickly interrupted him, his tone much more firm than it had been prior. His own grey and brown spotted ears were lowered in displeasure. "Besides, they don't need me."

"..." Garcia didn't like how he said that. "Alright, I see I touched on a sore topic. I apologize."

"It's fine, you didn't know." they were silent again for a moment, their tails shifting around and brushing as they became acquainted with each other's presence. "How do these processions usually go? No one has ever told me, and I couldn't quite ignore the gathering call."

"They're fairly simple." Garcia responded, giving him a little smile. "We follow the bride to a meeting place, I believe here in the States, it's a church. These treks can last for hours, but are always done before sunrise." he looked up at the sky, his eyes locking on the moon. "I don't have my watch on me, but I think we have about four or five more hours before sunrise."

"We're following just the bride?"

"Yes. In a way, we're escorting them to their groom. Most of us are here to witness a marriage, from what I know, they don't happen very often in this country." he tilted his head. "In Japan, the bride is usually always female, but I don't know about that here. In Spain, that's where I'm from, the bride can be either gender, as kitsunes outside of Japan found they wanted to make their own traditions. I think it's the same way here in the states."

"It is." a nearby fox stated blandly, causing Garcia to glance at them. "At least you didn't assume, though talking about these things during a procession is inappropriate."

"And you believe that leaving a two tails ignorant of _why_ he joined the procession on instinct _is_ appropriate?" Garcia responded in disbelief, raising an eyebrow as the other fox sputtered indignantly.

"He's got you there, David." another fox laughed beside him, looking highly amused.

"Shut it, Matthew!" David snapped, his face flushed red as he tried to hide it using one of his equally red tails, his two others swatting at his laughing friend, his own sandy yellow tails swaying happily behind him. The two fell into quiet bickering as Garcia turned back to the younger fox, who looked a little amused by the interaction.

"At least my question was answered, yeah?" the silver fox chuckled, and the younger smiled at him a little. "I'll continue to explain. When we get to the church, we'll have a wedding ceremony, sort of like a normal human would. After the ceremony, the bride will change from their wedding attire into something more casual, usually matching their spouse, signifying that the wedding has ended. There is usually always a celebration around the end of the wedding, I've never stuck around long enough to see it, not after the second time."

"Why not?" Garcia glanced at the younger kitsune as he puzzled out the answer to that.

"I never saw the point." he finally answered. "The procession and staying to see the end of the wedding shows your support, the celebration is more of a social activity, and it always ends up becoming far too rowdy for my tastes." he winced, one of his tails pulling away from the younger's and pressing against his back. "Tail tramplingly rowdy, and I mean that."

"That doesn't sound very fun…" he said quietly, and Garcia hummed.

"Depending on who you are, it's actually quite fun, but nothing is stopping you from leaving when the festivities begin." a sudden commotion from the front caused Garcia to perk.

"It looks like some lanterns are being passed back." Matthew's voice called from behind them. "I wonder why."

"Maybe some of the bearers got tired?" David offered, before one of the foxes ahead turned and opened their mouth.

"We're coming up to the church, I think!" they called back. "They're passing back the lanterns to anyone who wants them, but they have to be put out before you go in!" the smaller fox perked up beside him, and Garcia looked down at him. He looked incredibly interested in what was happening, his ears perked and his brown-blue eyes wide.

"Are you interested in the lamps?" he asked, and after a moment, he nodded. "How about when they get passed back completely, we grab you one."

"Really?" he looked at him in surprise, his ears twitching.

"Of course. It's not a bother at all." the younger fox _was_ shorter than he was, after all, and he meant it when he said he didn't mind snatching one for him. He stood on his toes as they continued forward, watching the lanterns as they slowly made their way towards him. "What's your name, by the way?"

"My name?" he echoed, sounding a little confused. "It's John. John Ward."

"It's nice to meet you, John." Garcia smiled at him and grabbed a lantern when it came into view, the flame in it having already gone out but the fragile white paper around the outside was perfectly intact. It was decorated with a lone, blooming cherry blossom tree. With a gentler look in his eyes, he handed John the lantern. "I'm Garcia." John gently took the lantern, holding it in both hands as he looked it over, peering in at the wick and wax of the internal candle.

"Thank you, Garcia." he said quietly as he looked back at him, a happy smile on his face, and his posture no longer so guarded and tense. Garcia smiled back at him, genuinely happy with what was happening. This was what he wanted, to make this younger fox stop looking so scared and lonely.

And he achieved his goal.

"You're welcome, John."

"Garcia!" John's voice startled Garcia out of his reminiscing, his red eyes locking on the curious and vaguely concerned brown-blues of his tentative mate's own. "What were you thinking about so intently up here, huh?" John chuckled as he sat down, propping his leg up on a pillow he'd brought up and placed on a log Garcia had brought up. "I called your name upwards of ten times and you didn't respond." Garcia smiled softly at John, the memory of his mate holding that lantern close with bright eyes still fresh in his mind.

**_"I was just thinking about how happy I am to have met you."_ **

As John flushed red and began stammering, looking embarrassed and genuinely flattered, Garcia could only think about how much he meant that. Ever since the start, he'd wanted John to be happy, and as he watched the younger fox finally settle down and lean into him with a little sigh, he could happily say that he's been doing well with that.

Maybe he should get out that lantern and hang it up in the back room for his mate. It would be a wonderful pre-courting gift, and he knew John would like it. He would later. For now, he was going to sit there with John in comfortable silence.

And in Garcia's opinion, for now, everything was just as it should be.

**Author's Note:**

> HI YES I WROTE FLUFF I was craving it. This is wholly a flashback fic but I can have my fox boys being soft if I wanna.
> 
> I wholly guessed at how fox weddings work, and because this is in the States I can assume that the tradition of a fox wedding isn't the same as in Japan so I took creative license.
> 
> David and Matthew, while likely not going to appear again since they are mere plot devices, are a red fox and a corsac fox respectively.
> 
> Once again, a big thank you to Gaysuke_Takahashi for looking over this fic for me!


End file.
